Understanding Adolescents (Self-Guided)

Uncover the secrets of the adolescent mind. This course helps you gain valuable information on how adolescents feel, how their identities develop, and how you can best meet their needs.

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3 Months / 24 Course Hrs
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Understanding Adolescents (Self-Guided)

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Course code: T9116

Parents, family members, teachers and related support staff, child and youth workers, counselors, nurses and the like will all benefit from the information shared in this course.

You will learn about the many physical, emotional, and cognitive changes that affect the teens in your life, and you will understand the significance of these changes both for you and the adolescent. You will look into relationships both inside and outside the home and the development of a teen's identity. You will explore personality, moral development and the role of faith.

By the time you finish this course, you should be very well-prepared to understand, appreciate, and meet the needs of the teens in your life.

How the course is taught

  • Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
  • 6 Weeks or 3 Months access
  • 24 course hours

Introduction

Your first lesson explains the term adolescent development and familiarize you with some terminology. You will also learn the three main stages of adolescence to help you become familiar with the tasks and milestones inherent in each stage.

Biological Development

Adolescence is a time of change. These changes occur on the outside as well as on the inside. This lesson focuses on some external changes, including puberty and the impact it can have on the adolescent. You will also learn how these changes can affect how you treat an adolescent.

Cognitive Development

This lesson focuses on internal changes kids experience during adolescence. As children's bodies take huge leaps forward, so do their brains as they learn and discover new ways of thinking and reasoning.

Social Development I

The dreaded peer group. In this lesson, you will take a close look at socialization, peers and peer groups, friends, intimacy, and social changes in your adolescent's behavior.

Social Development II

One of the things that changes most during adolescence is a child's family relationships and how family members interact with each other. This lesson focuses on some of those changes and the impact this may have on both the adolescent and the family.

Emotional Development

Emotional development is one of the internal changes that evolves during adolescence. This lesson explores some aspects of emotions and their development, and the significance this may have for adolescent development.

Identity and Self-Concept

This is the "Who Am I?" lesson. This lesson delves into how people think about themselves, how their identity develops, what might influence their identity, and their self-concept.

Moral Development and Faith

This lesson is all about moral development and how the changes to the adolescent play a role in their moral development. You will become familiar with the overall thoughts, ideas and processes that seem common to adolescent moral development.

Stress

This lesson takes a close look at stress, anxiety, frustration, and defense mechanisms. You will also explore how these things affect all of us and how some of this is demonstrated during adolescence.

Influences on Development

This lesson looks at four separate things: nature versus nurture, temperament, personality, and resiliency. The main thread carried throughout this lesson is how a better understanding of yourself can help you to better understand others.

Adolescent Needs

This lesson review some of the adolescent needs and looks at how this affects LBTQ+ youth. You will learn about the issues these individuals may be faced with.

When Something Goes Wrong

Your final lesson shifts from the normal to the abnormal part of adolescent development. The focus of this lesson will be a brief overview of disorders or conditions that are consistently viewed within the

Self-Study

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 8 or later.
  • Mac: macOS 12 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.​

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.​

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.​

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.​

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.